Press Release

A job board as young as it feels

By DAN O’REGAN

Before leaving for a summer vacation, Thomas Cerna found himself with nobody to water his plants while he was away. That got him thinking: Why not create a website where you could post odd jobs for area residents to check out?

The result was youthire.com, a local job board for people ages 16 to 26.

It’s essentially two sites in one, according to Cerna: Users seeking work can register for free on the site as “youthires,” while users offering odd jobs can register for free as job providers. Providers can post a job they need done to a job search list with details including a job description, a start time and a rate of pay; youthires can browse the available jobs by ZIP code and message the provider to offer their services.

“When I was in high school, I did a lot of odd jobs myself,” Cerna said. “I was able to have my own spending money and I had a fine little business mowing lawns growing up in Westchester.”

Cerna said youthires must be between the ages of 16 and 26, and registered laborers are placed into one of three categories: high school students, college students or “neither.” They can also create profiles pages with information about themselves such as their hometown, school activities and any special skills they may have.After a job is completed, providers are encouraged to review the youthire’s services, and the review can be displayed on the youthire’s profile page as a testimonial for future employers.

Pay rates are set by the job providers and pay is deposited directly into a youthire’s bank account through Popmoney.com upon job completion. A 15 percent fee is charged by Youthire.com from every transaction on the site.

Jeanine Briefel, 62, of Sea Cliff first used the site to help get her garage cleaned out. “It’s very hard to find someone to help you out for what they call ‘little jobs,’ like fixing a hole in the wall and painting it,” Briefel said. “Especially for elderly people, it’s really a wonderful service for the community.” Jordan Gavitt, 17, of Glen Head said cleaning out Briefel’s garage was hard work, but he was “well compensated.”

“I think [Youthire.com] is a great idea,”

Gavitt said. “It’s a great business and it gives jobs and money to kids who could really use it.”

Cerna said the site currently has approximately 50 job providers and 25 registered youthires, and he’s hoping the spring will bring in more spring cleaning-type jobs. “Being that we just started out in January, [the site] doesn’t really conform to the types of jobs that might be available during the winter,” Cerna said. “It’s been mostly shoveling jobs.”

Listed jobs could really cover just about anything, he added, but mostly consist of low-skill around-the-house tasks like mowing lawns, power-washing decks, cleaning out garages or removing storm windows. Youthire.com is not the place to post skilled or dangerous work like carpentry or roof maintenance, Cerna noted.

Youthire.com has thus far focused on Sea Cliff, Brookville, Glen Cove and Glen Head. Cerna said he’d like to quickly expand and there’s nothing stopping providers from posting jobs in other areas.

Cerna said the beauty of his site is that kids earn a lot more than a little extra spending money.

“I think it’s important to instill in kids that there’s value to the work ethic, there’s value to taking appreciation in a job well done,” he said. “That carries on for life.”